Chesapeake, Severna Park draw

As she gathered her players on the sideline before the first overtime against visiting Chesapeake, Severna Park girls soccer coach Joyce Stefancik reminded them that "a tie is better than a loss."

Judging by the caliber of the two teams, that might have been the logical conclusion.

Severna Park's Stephanie Roberts scored her second goal with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in regulation, and neither side converted during two 10-minute overtimes, as No. 3 Chesapeake and No. 9 Severna Park played to a 2-2 tie yesterday.

"Obviously, we were out to win the ballgame," said Stefancik, whose squad is 8-1-1, "but it was a well-played game and we just didn't want to over-commit and let them score."

The game brought together two teams with almost mirror defenses. Chesapeake (9-0-1), a state semifinalist last year, had allowed four goals and posted five shutouts. Severna Park had surrendered two goals with seven shutouts.

A rare Falcons letdown proved costly earlier this year, when Broadneck won, 1-0, in the season's second game. Severna Park then won seven in a row, with its closest call being a 1-0 win over Glen Burnie on Tuesday.

Chesapeake's only scare came against South River in a 2-1 double-overtime victory and it outscored its next three opponents, 18-0.

That set the stage for yesterday's showdown, in which a goal from Chesapeake's Melissa Wagner at 15:12 of the second half broke a 1-1 tie.

Natalie Black lofted a direct kick from the right side that landed in front of Wagner about 10 yards from the net. The sophomore striker rolled a shot past Severna Park freshman goalkeeper Shannon Chaney (12 saves).

Chesapeake had taken a 1-0 lead at 16:40 of the first half when junior reserve Michelle Manner scored off a header from Stacey Necessary.

Cougars sophomore keeper Sandra Norris (16 saves) stopped the first five Severna Park shots, but she was helpless on the sixth. Roberts (16 goals, three assists) stood alone to Norris' right when she headed a Shelley Seivert corner kick into the net to make it 1-1 at 20:45.

The Falcons nearly went ahead with 6:34 left in the first half when a shot from Roberts bounced off the left post to teammate Laurie Reid. Reid gathered the ball, but her shot was smothered by a diving Norris.

Roberts forced the extra sessions when she raced past a couple of defenders and blasted a shot off Norris' hands and into the net.

"Roberts made a beautiful run on that ball," said Cougars coach Lin Sullivan. "We didn't clear the ball when we could have. The keeper made as good a play as she can on it. But that ball was hit so hard. I mean, it was a rocket.

"When we got the lead with 11 or 12 minutes left to go, we decided at that point that we couldn't just play defense, that we still had to go aggressively offensively.

"We just figured we would take our time on set-play situations, and if that took up some time, that would be great. But we didn't go into a defensive shell. We were looking for the third goal."